Fabled Anthologies
by fablesrogue
Summary: The beginning of an anthology... of fables. A breeding ground for ideas I may or may not eventually follow up on.


**Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fanfiction**

**Disclaimer: - **Yeah, don't own a thing. Which is a shame really, it really is.

**Summary: -** The beginning of an anthology... of fables. A breeding ground for ideas I may or may not eventually follow up on I'll share.

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><p><strong>Fabled Anthologies<strong>

**Chapter One: - Where Were You?**

**Plot: - **Superman's fight with Doomsday ended just a little differently.

This was the darkest day that anyone could've imagined. "No…" Lois called out from behind Jimmy as the two of them helplessly watched as the Earth's adopted son finally fell. The two titans had truly gone the distance; they had collided in one last explosive effort to fell one another. In the years that will follow from this day, witnesses of this fight will tell of the sheer power of those punches. They will tell others that they felt the shockwaves rolling over them as fists collided with flesh as hard as steel and shattered glass and cracked stone and masonry. Others would remember the huge crater the two had made with those self – same blows. But the one thing that would stand out about this day that they would remember is that this was the day that a proud and noble hero fell at the hands of a monster that still stood strong over the fallen hero.

"RRRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRRR!" The creature's bellow chilled the witnesses down to the bones. Ice and Bloodwynd stood amongst them, saddened that they had arrived too late to help the man that was a symbol of hope for many. But where was that hope now, eh? Doomsday turned toward the people, now ignoring the broken man that lay at its feet. The two still standing Justice Leaguers prepared themselves because they knew that they would be next.

They tensed.

Doomsday roared again, it felt like the whole city was shaking because of it. Was there no limit to this creature's strength? The News Copter's overhead still carried on reporting, Cameramen were still broadcasting images of the scene back to the studio as the story of the battle had gone out nationwide. Many had watched from the comfort of their own homes, on the edge of their seats as Superman had fought to stop a monster's rampage and failed in doing so. In Washington, the Leader of the Free World had watched with a heavy heart as a great man gave his all to save his country.

In Gotham city, a Dark Knight smashed his fist against his computer as he watched the broadcast, the man he considered a close second to his father stood by unable to console him as he watched a good man fall.

In Gateway City, an Amazon Princess shed tears as she watched a dear friend fall, a sword in her hand gripped tightly as she prepared herself to go avenge her friend.

And on the other side of the country, in a small town in California where a portal to hell was housed under a high school library, a young man, the victim of a prank on Halloween over a week ago watched the news footage on his TV as his greatest hero, the last son of a dead world, seemingly died.

This man had saved his family's life when he was a small boy. His dad had decided to take him and his mom to the beach when they and everyone else were suddenly attacked by an invading army of aliens. Superman had personally appeared right in front of him when a big hulking guy with Spock like ears and wearing gladiator style armour and a purple cape while carrying a gun of some kind and a huge curved sword took aim at him and his parents.

He remembered being scared out of his tiny mind as the alien fired his gun at him and his parents… until Superman had flown between them and the alien and saved them as he defeated the alien warrior. He looked up at Superman's face when the hero quickly turned to check on him and his mom and dad:

"Don't worry son…" Superman had said to him. "Everything's going to be alright." He remembered Superman giving him a smile before he had flown away. And Xander could remember believing him. Why? He was saved by Superman; that's why, and Superman doesn't lie.

He had felt different ever since Halloween ended. He couldn't explain it. He felt… strong. Powerful. The costume he had bought was supposed to have been from a Japanese anime that didn't get the go ahead to air. The store owner had told him that he had gotten the costume on the cheap. It was for a promotional tour that was cancelled along with the show apparently. But the outfit that he finds himself wearing even now, a bright orange pant and vest combo with a blue undershirt, blue wrist weights and boots with red lining… He doesn't understand why, but the costume is really comfortable on him and it just feels right.

He could tell that he wasn't human anymore; for the past week, he had been avoiding his friends, fearing that Buffy, a hero in her own right, could tell that he was no longer like he used to be.

He didn't know whether that was a good thing or not.

Now, after watching the broadcast, where he watched the man that had saved his family, Xander began to feel angry. A rage unlike any other he had felt before had begun to bubble up inside him. The skies outside his house had started to darken, thunder suddenly rolled over the town of Sunnydale, and there was no warning that a storm was expected. Streaks of lightning flashed in the skies and the young man in his bedroom felt like he was going to burst as a feeling of power welled up inside him.

The house had started to shake, then the whole street followed by the entire town; Xander could hear his parents downstairs cursing and scrambling about as they went down into the basement. He didn't even hear them call out for him; he gave them no further thought as they had never gave any for him. For a moment, his hair had turned golden for a brief second. His eyes whited out as he continued to listen to the news broadcast. He heard the reporter say that the monster known as Doomsday was advancing on towards the people.

His anger spiked: "AAAAAHHHHH!"

From outside, his two best friends were trying to make it to his home, concerned that they hadn't seen or heard from him for a week, as they were being buffeted by the high winds that had sprung up out of nowhere so suddenly, the two saw a golden light emanating from his bedroom window. They heard the scream and watched wide – eyed as his bedroom window shattered and the wall exploded outwards in a mass of golden energy.

"XANDER!" They both shouted as they ran closer. A second later, they saw their friend floating out of the hole from his bedroom, trailing a tail of golden energy behind him. They stopped running, too dumbstruck to even move, they took in their friend's appearance: Golden spiked up tufts of small hair, bulging muscles and whited out eyes that gave way to two emerald coloured irises that were filled with fury. "XANDER?!" Buffy shouted as she was suddenly overcome with the urge to find a nice, big rock and hide under it. And take Willow with her for good measure. And Angel as well.

Xander ignored them as he shot up into the air and headed east. Leaving his friends behind, intent on avenging a great loss that he was positive was being watched by everyone who watched the battle.

And up in the higher realms, a two – faced deity of change and doorways jumped up out of his marble throne and whooped as his compatriot, a short man in a purple bowler hat and a frighteningly orange get up with purple booties took a pull of his stogie and grinned as they watched Earth's newest hero go. "Janny, my man…" The short man started. "This kid you like so much, he's gonna go far."

The devastation of the battle passed by him quickly. Xander could see a cloud of thick black smoke a mile and a half away; he saw most of the damage wrought by Superman's and the monsters fight as he flew; getting closer over Kirby County, Ohio. His anger increased as he could hear people crying over the lifeless bodies of their loved ones or calling out looking for others. He wished that he could help them all, he truly did, but the monster was still a threat to the people of Metropolis. Xander's anger over the devastation Doomsday had wrought made his power flare brighter than the sun.

His passing over the County had not gone unnoticed; people looked up when they saw the golden light get brighter and brighter as it flew over; a redheaded woman, wearing green and yellow battle armour looked up at the sight as she regained her bearings. She had only just barely recovered from Doomsday's savage beating but she was all too eager to face the creature once more.

"Who is that?" Her companion, Jim Harper, the Guardian asked as he saw the receding form of what looked like a man flying off towards Metropolis.

"I do not know, but I intend to find out." Maxima replied as she shakily rose into the air and followed the unknown man.

"Maxima wait…!" Guardian shouted out, but the Almeracian ignored him.

She had tried to read the being's thoughts and was surprised when she encountered a powerful mental block. This intrigued her. It wasn't every day that someone on Earth could block out her telepathy. Only the Martian matched her in that and he's nowhere nearby. 'I will know who you are, stranger.' She thought as she realised that the being was headed towards Metropolis. She watched on; her superior eyesight showed that the unknown being had increased his speed towards his destination; Maxima tried to catch up, but failed. 'Damn it!' She thought as the stranger quickly disappeared from view.

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><p>Doomsday's advance caused many to flee in terror. Others were too scared to move. Ice and Bloodwynd had to move them forcibly as the creature roared then charged their position. Doomsday reared his fist to attack, the jutting bone knuckles could be seen; Ice saw specks of red on them as it neared; they were stained with Superman's blood. She narrowed her eyes. Ice moved first, she used her powers to form a thick trip bar of ice in an attempt to trip up the creature. She watched as the Doomsday charged right through, its momentum unchanged, her idea was a failure.<p>

Bloodwynd fired his eye beams, narrowing his gaze in an attempt to pierce the monster's tough hide; he aimed centre mass and was dismayed to see the creature shrugging the attack off as he had all others previously. The creature still neared.

"RRRRROOOOOAAAARRRRR!"

As it got closer, Doomsday's bulky mass cast a shadow over the two heroes; fitting they thought as they glared hatefully at the monster. If they were to die this day, then they would not go quietly and they will try to take this monster with them. "Ready?" Ice asked to her compatriot.

"I am." Bloodwynd replied. Doomsday loomed over them with his arms raised; they could see drying blood on the bone spikes on his forearms, again, they knew that it must've been Superman's blood. All three were about to attack, two against one that had caused so much suffering, Ice and Bloodwynd moved. Doomsday brought its arms crashing down…

"HEY!" All three stopped and turned at the sound, the creature, as did Ice and Bloodwynd looked up and saw what looked to be a small sun hovering above the devastated streets. As the creature turned more fully the heroes had to shield their eyes as the light of the small object in the air nearly blinded them.

'What now?' Was the prevalent thought that the two heroes were simultaneously thinking.

"WHY DON'T YOU TRY FIGHTING SOMEONE THAT STANDS A CHANCE OF STOPPING YOU?!" The light began to recede, its golden glow becoming dimmer and dimmer until the heroes and everyone else in the vicinity could see again. When their vision had cleared, many of them stared with wide open eyes. "TRY ME!" A golden haired man shouted at the creature. Doomsday regarded him for a moment.

"HAH!" The creature scoffed and turned back to his original prey, Ice and Bloodwynd; the heroes readied themselves once again, grateful that the unknown man had shown up to help… Not that it would do much good, they thought as they moved to resume their attacks against the creature. Xander became livid when the monster dismissed him; he quickly charged a ball of energy in his palm, putting into it as much power he could in order to get the monster's attention.

He had discovered after Halloween that he could control and manipulate his body's own internal energy. His memories of the hero he had dressed as on Halloween had called it Ki.

In order to make sense of what he had become, Xander had spent the past week while he was absent from school researching everything his memories informed him about Ki. He read that the energy he could now manipulate was supposed to the circulating life energy the Chinese thought to be inherent in all living things, but Xander knew now that there was more to it than that. His memories told him that this energy could grow. That with training, he could become more powerful, it was a heady concept and frightening as well.

But now, he had to put those fears aside for the moment. The monster that had killed his hero was bearing down on the two Justice Leaguers. Xander threw the ball of energy hard at the monster, Ice and Bloodwynd ran and dove for cover and Doomsday stumbled and fell to its knee from the impact.

***BOOM!***

"Have I got your attention now?" Xander asked, his fury filled eyes looked down at the monster as the creature stood, it whirled around and growled at the golden haired man. He could feel the stares of everyone present as he lowered himself down to the ground; he did his best to shrug them off as he focused on his enemy.

"RRRRAAAAGGGGHHHH!" Doomsday roared as it looked at the man, then he charged; the creature gave no warning no sign of intent. Doomsday just charged and so did Xander. Their fists were raised and leading their charges; Xander moved so fast, people swore he was flying. Doomsday's feet pounded the already cracked concrete, creating mini tremors as it ran towards its new prey.

The two met in the middle, their fists colliding; a thunderous shockwave erupted from the contact and blew debris and broken glass away. People were nearly blown off of their feet as they stared at the young man trading blows with a monster. Some of them felt the faint stirrings of hope welling inside.

Ice and Bloodwynd stood on shaky legs. They felt like their knees had turned to Jelly on them, they braced themselves against each other and watched as the unknown man dodged to the left as Doomsday threw a straight punch but missed, Xander delivered a thunderous left cross to Doomsday's face then followed with another and then another before he threw a right hook into its gut. Doomsday bellowed in rage. Xander grimaced in pain, it felt like he was hitting rock, but he would not let that deter him. He threw fast straight jabs and hooks into Doomsday's torso, travelling upwards and then hitting the monster's face, the creature staggered under the assault but righted itself when Xander jumped straight up with his elbow raised.

The creature snarled, Xander brought his elbow down on top of the creatures head; Doomsday staggered again and backed off growling. It shook its head as it righted itself and lunged; the monster raised its arms above its head and brought them down bearing on Xander, attempting to squash him, but the young hero saw the attack coming and to everyone's shock at watching the fight, he disappeared. The monster's arm crashed into the ground cracking it even further; Doomsday looked for its suddenly missing opponent, its head shaking from left and right, but he didn't notice that his opponent was behind him; a ball of blue energy cupped between his hands, held at the right side of his body.

There was a sound like crickets chirping; Ice and Bloodwynd looked around nearby, hoping to discover were the noise was coming from until it became clear to them, and eventually Doomsday that the sound was emanating from the unknown fighter. The chirping sound became louder and louder.

"KA… ME… HA… ME… HHHAAAA!" Xander thrusted his arms forward, the ball of energy exploded from his cupped hands in a focused blast of blue energy and shot towards the monster at an incredible speed. The beam collided; Doomsday roared. The creature was being pushed back by the beam.

Those faint stirrings from earlier became renewed feelings as a sense of hope made itself evident. Lois and Jimmy turned their attention away from their battered friend and back towards the fight; Lois held Superman's head in her lap, eyes glistening with tears. Jimmy used his camera, this was some fantastic stuff despite everything that had happened. But they hoped that the new guy could finish what Superman had started, from the looks of it, he was certainly giving it his all.

The people of Metropolis watched as they hoped that the newcomer could defeat the monster. A few of the bystanders began cheering him on, some prayed… Ice being one of them and Xander could hear them all. It bolstered his resolve further. "HHHHHAAAA!" He roared out as he increased the blast wave's power; Doomsday roared as he was pushed back again, further and further. The creature had dug his feet into the ground as it tried to anchor itself. Xander could feel some resistance to his efforts of destroying the monster.

"NO… YOU… DON'T! HHHHHHAAAAAA!" He fed more power into the beam as he felt Doomsday finally pushing back. To say that Xander was shocked would be an understatement. What's it going to take to kill this thing? He asked himself. Xander's feet dug into the ground, mirroring the monster as he tried to hold firm against Doomsday.

But it seemed that the impossible had then happened: Doomsday splayed his arms wide and with a mighty heave, the creature managed to throw off the blast. Everyone watched as the blast veered off straight into the air. A couple of News Copters had to move out of the way of the blasts path as Cameramen and reporters alike breathed a sigh of relief at the near – miss. Xander's emerald eyes widened. He immediately shut the beam off and he raised his arms to his head in a defensive move when he saw Doomsday sailing through the air with its arms raised above its head. The creature had jumped immediately after he had shrugged the blast off. It had used the beams trail to obscure itself as he travelled through the air, intent on crushing the young man beneath him. Xander had to give credit to the monster; that was smart.

Doomsday was too near for Xander to dodge; he braced himself, gritting his teeth when Doomsday's spiked forearms crashed into his. The creature began hammering against Xander's arms; the young warrior had to channel some of his Ki into his defence, he felt that his arms would break otherwise.

"Damn…" A Cameraman had said as he continued to capture the footage of the battle. He saw the golden haired guy take pounding after pounding as Doomsday became more and more angry and enraged. He figured that the monster was getting pissed as to why he hadn't smashed this guy yet. He was wondering that himself. The golden haired guy had surprised everyone when he started fighting the creature. He asked himself: 'could this guy be stronger than it?! Is he even stronger than…' He trailed off as he thought about Superman. He shook his head; he hoped that this guy was.

Ice, Bloodwynd and everyone else watched as Xander kept standing after each one of Doomsday's pounding blows. Any other man would've likely been crushed under the monster's assault, but this man… "We need to help him." Ice said to her compatriot.

Bloodwynd nodded. "Agreed."

"RRRAAAHHH!… NO!" The two heroes were surprised. The golden haired fighter had heard them as Doomsday continued to hammer Xander's arms. "DON'T… INTERFERE! DOOMSDAY'S MINE!"

"What?!" Ice asked. Was this guy serious!?

"GET THESE… PEOPLE… OUTTA HERE!" Xander shouted under each crushing blow. When he glanced back at the white and blue clad woman, he screamed at her: "NOW!"

"Do as he says, Ice." Maxima said as she had finally arrived in Metropolis, spotting her Justice League allies, she landed next to them as she readied herself to enter the fray. Xander had not missed her arrival.

"Maxima…" Ice began.

"Do as he says!" The Almeracian repeated. "I and our new ally shall handle Doomsday. Go, now!" She did not wait for the girl's response, Maxima charged into the battle.

"YOU FACE MAXIMA, ONCE MORE CREATURE! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!" She shouted as she charged into the monster. Maxima delivered a strong right cross to the creatures face, Doomsday was thrown off of Xander as Maxima followed through with another punch.

Xander watched as the Redhead that acted like she was sex and battle personified, in his opinion, threw herself at the monster. She punched Doomsday again and again, not allowing Doomsday to even recover. He shot forward, intent on adding his might to the woman's own attacks. Soon, the two of them were hammering Doomsday with powerful blows.

The Queen of Almerac glanced at Xander as she kept punching Doomsday; Xander knew that she was looking at him. He cursed as Doomsday shrugged off one of his attacks and nearly hit back, he had to move to his right in order to avoid the blow from the monster. Maxima saw him recover and attack with increased fervour, she allowed herself a small smile. This human had surprised her.

Doomsday decided to switch tactics, if the creature couldn't hit the golden man, the creature turned its attention towards Maxima. When it saw the redhead glance once more at the other one, he capitalised on her distraction.

***BLAM!***

"AUGH!" Maxima was knocked back by the monster's attack. Xander had increased his own attacks as Maxima crashed into a building on the other side of the street. Xander knew that he couldn't move to help her; Doomsday had started to shrug off Xander's attack once more, the young warrior scowled and growled. 'Is it fucking getting stronger?!' He asked himself as he delivered a punishing right hook at the creature's face. Doomsday staggered again, Xander charged a small ball of Ki and threw it in the Doomsdays face. The ball exploded and Doomsday was thrown back into a building by the force of the explosion.

"I don't know who you are, Lady, but when one is trying to kill a fucking monster…" Xander said as he suddenly appeared at Maxima's side and helped her stand. "One should keep her attention focused on the task at hand!" Xander finished, Maxima shook her head and took in Xander's words. She pushed him back but was surprised when he didn't move.

"You dare, human?!" She said as the hot blooded Redhead dared to strike him. "Do not dare speak to me as if I am some lowborn commoner, Fool! I am Maxima, Queen of Almerac…" Again, she was surprised when the golden haired warrior caught her hand and glared at her. As she looked into Xander's fury filled gaze, Maxima found herself shaking. She had never seen such a look of cold fury directed at her before, it was so surprising to her that she had lost her train of thought as the golden haired warrior spoke.

"I am not a human." He almost growled at her, surprising her with his answer. "And I don't care if you're the Queen of the Amazons or whatever you're the fucking Queen of. Don't get in my way. Doomsday is mine!"

"How dare you! You dare to impugn me?! The Queen of Almerac!" Maxima raged. Xander rolled his eyes; this was hardly the time for this. Maxima had tried to shake her hand free of Xander's grasp but she was surprised again to find that she couldn't.

"RRRRROOOOOAAAARRRRR!"

The two turned at the sound of Doomsday as he came crashing out of the building and charged the two. Without missing a beat, Xander spun and threw the Almerac Queen away, making her shout out in surprise and indignation; he braced himself again. The News Copter's had caught the exchange between the two and the news reporters and cameramen were speculating whether the Redhead and this guy knew each other.

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><p>Back in Sunnydale, Willow and Buffy had ran to the Library, intent on telling Giles what had happened at Xander's. When they arrived, they saw the Watcher, Ms. Calendar, Cordy and Angel looking through the books to find out anything about the creature that was attacking Metropolis. The girls could hear voices coming from Giles' office. They heard what sounded like a news broadcast.<p>

Cordelia spoke: "Are we sure that there's no Apocalypse scheduled? The ground doesn't start shaking around here for anything else, ya know!" She snarkily asked. Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, she could be so frustrating at times.

"Not that I recall, no."

"Guys! Xander… He – He's gone!" Willow shouted as they neared the table.

"What do you mean he's gone? Gone where?" Cordelia asked as the vampire and Jenny stopped what they were doing and approached the table.

"We don't know!" Buffy replied. "We were heading towards his place to check up on him and there… there was a bright light from his bedroom and then there was an explosion at his house…"

"Good lord…" Giles started. "Is – is he alright?"

"I don't know! One second his bedroom goes boom and then he comes out of the hole all – all golden looking and – and flying!" The Slayer ranted as Willow took a seat.

"Hang on, did you say that he was golden looking?" Giles asked.

"Uh, huh." Willow said as she looked at all the books strewn about the table.

"Oh, lord. Buffy… Willow, I don't know how to say this but, um… uh… Xander…" He stammered as he tried to get the words out. The Slayer and her friend suddenly saw the other members of the Scoobies shifting. Cordy and Jenny looked down before turning to look at Giles. Angel just looked down at the ground.

Buffy frowned when she looked at Angel. "Xander's what, Giles?" She asked. "Is he possessed? Is he a demon? What!?" She exclaimed.

"He's in Metropolis, Buffy. Xander is fighting the creature that Superman was battling." Giles began to polish his glasses as Buffy and Willow looked at him with wide eyes and shocked faces. "The news has been reporting on the battle all day. Um, uh, apparently the creature has killed Superman…"

"AND XANDER'S FIGHTING THAT!?" Willow shouted out at the man.

"That's it! I'm gonna go get the TV from the break room." Cordelia said as she stood up. "Angel, give me a hand?" She asked. The vampire turned to look at Buffy, the Slayer shrugged and he nodded to the socialite.

"Alright." He placed the book he was looking in down on the table.

"Great, I'm so glad to see that you got her permission. God! Man up!" Cordy snarked again; Buffy scowled as Cordy stormed passed ignoring the petite Slayer with the vampire following.

Five minutes later, the two of them returned with Angel carrying the TV. The vampire went inside Giles' office and set it up. A minute later, everyone had piled into the room, watching the national broadcast from Metropolis.

"Oh, God!"

"Bloody hell!"

"Holy…"

"XANDER!" Willow wailed. The group gave the broadcast their complete attention. They were seeing the battle from a bird's eye view as it was being broadcasted from a news copter above the battle. A golden haired man could be seen trading blows with a monster that was straight out of a nightmare. It had bone spikes jutting out of its shoulders, its forearms, a bone spike jutting out of one of its knees. It had straggly stands of white hair and an external spine. And their friend was punching, kicking, even blasting it with what they thought was magic. They watched as Xander weathered an assault that would've killed any man and then rallied with an assault of his own.

Willow cried, Buffy and Angel were stunned speechless; Buffy wondered for a second why her eyes were wet before she realised that she too was crying. Jenny held her hand to her mouth, her eyes went wide as she watched the camera angle change, Xander delivered a rising knee to Doomsday's bone jutted chin. Doomsday was lifted off the ground a few inches before he landed and grabbed the front of Xander's orange shirt.

"XANDER!" Willow wailed again as they watched the monster head – butt their golden haired friend. Xander had fell back, Doomsday rallied and threw a punch into his opponents gut, Xander coughed up some blood and was lifted off of the ground but Doomsday still had hold of him and delivered another two punches to the gut before he punched Xander in the face.

Xander was thrown across the street where the Scoobies noticed there was a scantily dressed redhead in a green and yellow outfit getting up. Xander crashed into her as she had just gotten up on her feet. Willow wondered who that was as she noticed the stacked redhead roll Xander off of her. The image then showed Maxima get up once again and looking pissed before she was seen charging the monster again, but Doomsday had proved that it was more than ready for her, it roared and backhanded the woman away once more.

Cordelia spoke. "Who is she? Is she a member of the Justice League?"

It was Giles that spoke. "Her name is Maxima. The Watchers have, um, rather extensive files on some of the world's heroes." At her and Jenny's look, the Watcher elaborated. "The Justice League has faced Supernatural threats before. Usually they have their own magic based heroes like Dr. Fate and Zatanna, but the Watchers have assisted them in the past." Giles and the girls turned back towards the TV. "Maxima, apparently is alien royalty. She came to Earth a while back, um, intending on mating with Superman."

"Wait, that was her?!" Buffy asked as she suddenly remembered details about when the alien Queen was first defeated by Superman. "She took Metropolis's City Hall hostage. I remember that she had brainwashed a few people and put them in some type of battle armour. It was all on the news. The Press had a field day when it was revealed why she was here."

"Indeed." Giles said. "That was her first encounter with Superman. Doubtless, there were more, but I'm afraid the Watchers files on her aren't that extensive." As silence fell between the Scoobies, they watched as Xander had gotten back up and faced Doomsday.

* * *

><p>He and the monster charged each other again. Doomsday reached out to grab Xander but Xander's arms reached out as well and intercepted Doomsday's own outstretched arms and he used all of his strength to hold them there.<p>

Doomsday raised his spiked knee, trying to impale Xander in the torso with it; the empowered teen jumped out of the way and planted his feet into Doomsday's face. The creature's head snapped back. It growled as it brought its head forward again, Xander scowled as he repeated the move again and again, each time Doomsday snarled at him. Xander knew that he needed more power to defeat the monster.

He needed to finish this now. Everyone watched as the two titans struggled to dominate one another, on one side, a monster of violence and death. The other, an unknown hero whose perseverance against Doomsday inspired hope in them.

Suddenly the two broke apart, their arms going wide, Xander quickly closed the distance, using his smaller frame to his advantage he got in close to the monster and began hammering mighty blows that could crumble mountains against the creature's bulky frame. Left, right, left, right; an elbow into the creature's gut, Doomsday toppled forward roaring in pain. It brought its arms up as it lunged over Xander's crouched form, it was going to smash its arms onto the golden warrior's back, but before it could, Xander shot back out of the way and roared at the creature. "KIAI!"

He used his Ki to push Doomsday's huge form away from him. The creature went sailing back down the street, propelled by an invisible force; it roared as its golden haired prey got further and further away. Seconds later, the creature crashed into the ground, tearing up the street; it was a miracle so far that no one had been injured yet in the fight between these two, the city on the other hand…

Doomsday got up on its knee as it glared at the fighter, its rage making him see red; the monster shot forward again, giving no warning like before. It pounded the ground as it ran, the gravel and concrete underfoot cracking from the force of the monster's powerful strength. Xander prepared himself, this was his only chance to finish this once and for all. Quickly pushing his Ki to the max, his Ki field came into being surrounding him. The newly created Super Saiyan balled his hands into fists and haunched over, bending his knees. "SUPER KAIOKEN ATTACK!" He shouted. His Ki aura immediately turned red; the ground beneath him cracked in a web like pattern as pieces of debris rose into the under the effect of Xander's power as the entire city began shaking.

A Nation watched as the unknown fighter charged forward and intercepted the creature, propelled by the incredible amount of power he had summoned from within. Slamming into the monster, Xander had hit full force and pushed all of his strength into shifting Doomsday's momentum, lifting the monster into the air, landing heavy blows to the creature's body as they climbed. Quickly passing the News Copters, the force of the blows sounded like rolling thunder as the golden haired warrior battled on climbing ever higher.

"Good lord…" Giles breathed out. He felt like his legs was about to give out on him as he saw the boy he had so often found himself the target of beating the snot out of Doomsday before the news broadcast lost them. He couldn't be more proud of him even if he was his own son.

"Giles, what's he doing?" Buffy asked her Watcher as she watched her friend vanish up past the clouds.

"He's winning, Buffy. Xander's winning."

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><p>They passed the cloud bank as Xander kept hammering blow after powerful blow into Doomsday's gut; the creature flailed it's arms, trying to bring them around and retaliate but the force of the Kaioken enhanced punches made that impossible. The two climbed even further and the sky began to darken. Xander could tell that he was nearing the edge of Earth's Mesosphere, but he still kept climbing. The air had gotten extremely thin a few moments ago; Xander didn't let that stop him. Still climbing as he kept hitting the monster, he could feel his body straining to keep up with the Kaioken. His power was petering out; left with no choice, Xander used the last erg of strength he could muster to punch Doomsday away from him. And as he did, the red aura of the Kaioken enveloping him had dispersed.<p>

'Fuck, I don't have much left, and he's still ticking.' Xander thought as he turned to look back at the Earth before looking back at Doomsday. Using the last vestiges of his Ki, Xander shot after Doomsday and collided with him. He wrapped his arms around the monster's waist and pulled himself and the creature back. He felt gravity grab hold of both of them as the combatants re – entered the Earth's atmosphere.

The heat from re – entry was burning his skin and set his clothes alight as they fell towards Metropolis. Doomsday struggled to free itself Xander's grasp, it tried to twist and turn itself in Xander's hold but he would not let go, then the monster tried to pry Xander's arms apart and still, it failed as they fell.

A Nation saw an object falling from the sky at incredible speeds when cameras caught the image. A Nation hoped that the object was not what it feared it to be. All of America watched as the object struck downtown Metropolis with the force of an explosion. A Shockwave spread out along towering buildings, breaking glass and cracking masonry as it travelled along for a few hundred metres before petering out.

In a High School in California, a Redhead screamed out the golden warrior's name in fear and concern as everyone around her waited with bated breath for any information. For something. It felt like an eternity as they waited for news about their friend.

As the smoke cleared, all was silent. Ice and Bloodwynd made their way towards downtown, Maxima carried them with her telekinesis. They arrived at a huge open crater and Ice asked Maxima to put them down inside the crater. They saw two bodies lying in the crater next to each other. One was Doomsday, unmoving. The other was a black haired young man wearing a tattered and torn orange outfit and blue boots.

"Who is…" Ice asked. "Is that him?! He's just a kid!" She said sounding shocked as she and Bloodwynd moved closer towards the boy. Ice feared the worst. She moved closer towards the two warily. Doomsday could still be a threat, she was thinking as she went to check on the kid. Bloodwynd stood close by with Maxima at his side.

"Ice, is he…?" Bloodwynd asked. Ice moved to check the kid for a pulse; trying his neck first, she had difficulty finding one, she moved down to the kids right arm and checked his wrist for a pulse. It was thready but it was soon steadying out but Tora was relieved that at least it was there. Ice allowed herself a sigh of relief; he was alive. She nodded back at Bloodwynd and Maxima. The two accepted the news sombrely.

Xander groaned. "Uhhh… What… hit me…?" He breathed out as he slowly came too. "I… could use… a… Senzu… about now." He moaned out as he opened his eyes. Everything hurt; he found himself lying down facing gravel and concrete and wondered how he got there for a minute before he remembered. "Oooohhh, damn. Definitely not going to do that again." He rolled over and that took him some time to do as he really did not like the pain he was under.

He could hear voices coming closer to his position. Xander took in Ice's face when she called out to him. "Hey..." She started. "You alright?"

"Do I look alright?" Xander asked looking at her as if she'd asked a dumb question. Ice at least had the decency to look sheepish.

"Um, no. Sorry."

"Don't be." Xander replied; he would've waved her concern off, but he couldn't move anything yet. "Doomsday?" He asked.

"I think you got him." Ice said as Xander turned to look at the creature's still form. He really hoped that he did get the bastard, he had nothing left if he didn't.

"Good. And Superman?"

Ice went silent. Xander saw her sullen expression and looked at Bloodwynd as his head was looking down at the ground, he took that for her answer. "Oh…" Xander's mood quickly matched the two Leaguers. Soon, the three Leaguers and Xander could hear people approaching the crater; as Ice began to make sure that Xander was alright, emergency response teams and members of Metropolis' SCU division began securing the perimeter of the crater. News copters were flying overhead reported on what they could see, and across the country, a redhead and those with her, even the brooding ponce with a soul were relieved when they heard a reporter saying that the mysterious hero who had defeated Doomsday had survived the impact while the monster was unmoving.

Years from now, people will ask: Where were you on this day? Where were you when a good man gave his all for his city to live? Where were you when the Super Saiyan came and saved us from Doomsday? Where were you when a Superman died?

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Enjoy. This was a treat for me to write and it's not over by a long shot.

Read and Review

Peace


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